The Fall of Man
by Permanent Rose
Summary: The forbidden fruit tastes the sweetest. Eve's POV during the Temptation.


A/n: So this was quite random.

I was reading Many Waters (by Madeleine L'Engle, part of the Time Quartet) which is basically a fictionalized story about the bible flood. It makes the story so much more interesting when you give the characters personalities and such, so I decided to pick out a bible story and go into depth about it. I chose Adam and Eve, and told the part where they eat from the Tree of Knowledge from Eve's POV.

So I decided to post it because they actually have a category for the bible on this site.

_The Fall of Man_

I approached the Tree as I had many times before in the past. Its mystery entranced me, and a tingle would go down my spine every time I came close to it. The fruit itself appeared glorious, covered a smooth layer of crimson skin.

"Ah, the Queen of Eden approaches the Tree of Knowledge."

The voice startled me. I turned to see a strange creature staring at me through the branches of the Tree. The creature was about three feet long, but its slender body was no thicker than the width of my arm. Its body was covered in shiny black scales and it has four squat lets protruding from its torso. I had never seen such a creature before, and it frustrated me. I knew all the animals by name. Why hadn't I seen this one before?

The creature chuckled. "There is much you do not know, Queen of Eden."

I could communicate with all animals. We all spoke our own vocal languages, but we could all speak with each other by using the language of God himself, an language so ancient that it could not even be formed into words.

This creature was not like the other animals. They were simple minded and spoke only in effortless thoughts. But this creature seemed intelligent. It seemed as though it knew more than I did.

The creature chuckled again. "Has God truly said that you must not eat from any tree in the garden?"

He was playing with my mind, I knew. I answered his question carefully, but with confidence. "We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden. But of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, this very one, God has said, 'You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you will die.'"

"You shan't die," the creature said, taking a bite out of the red fruit, as if to prove his point. "Only knowledge comes from eating this fruit, a knowledge of good and evil. God has this knowledge, and by eating this fruit, you will become more like Him."

I pondered his words. They seemed so practical, so simple, so true. But I remembered God's warning. But why would he keep this knowledge from me, his appointed queen of Eden? What was it that he kept from my husband and me? Curiosity burned through my skin.

_If I eat the fruit and gain this knowledge, then I will be able to be a better queen, _I told myself. Yes. This made sense. God was only trying to protect us from something we didn't need to be protected from. I reached for the fruit.

"Yessss," the creature hissed, encouraging me.

I sunk my teeth into the sweet fruit. It tasted better than I had imagined it. I greedily chewed on the piece, but as soon as I swallowed, an odd sensation, an uncomfortable feeling, filled my body. It was something I had never experienced before, but my newfound knowledge named it for me: guilt.

"Eve? What are you doing?" Adam's voice pulled me back to reality. He was running toward the base of the Tree. "What have you done?"

The guilt burned stronger within me. The sight of Adam's naked body suddenly bothered me, and my cheeks flushed crimson. Another new feeling coursed through me: shame.

"Tell him to take a bite, too," encouraged the creature, a serpent, I now knew.

Part of me wanted to say no. I didn't want Adam to experience the tortuous feelings I was experiencing. But another part of me did not want to suffer alone.

"Come on," the serpent encouraged.

"Adam, God was wrong. We won't die from consuming this fruit. We will only become more like him, more equal to our Creator." I didn't know where the words were coming from. It was like the serpent was speaking through me.

He hesitated. The guilt and anguish was becoming too much to bear. I wanted to feel happy again; I wanted my naivety back. Knowledge was not a gift, rather a curse.

"Take the fruit!" I screamed, thrusting the fruit at Adam.

I didn't know what made him do it, the wild pleading in my eyes or his own free will, but he took the fruit and bit into the juicy skin.

I saw as the feelings I had previously experienced took over my husband.

_I did this to him, _I thought. Another feeling overcame me: sadness.

"Come, Eve," Adam said, grabbing my hand. "We must hide ourselves from God."

But we both knew that we would not be able to escape his wrath.


End file.
